Refugee Participation
The COVID pandemic has highlighted the critical role that refugee participation can and should play in improving humanitarian responses.
Our work on refugee participation highlights that for refugee participation to be meaningful it must be substantive, sustained and substantial. For participation to be substantive, it must mean that input from refugees must have the potential to make a measurable difference in the outcomes of a process. For participation to be sustained, it must include refugee participation in the design, implementation and evaluation of policies and programs. And for participation to be substantial, it must ensure that refugees are able to participate in sufficient numbers to bring diverse and representative views while also equipping and empowering refugees to participate with the skills and background information that places them on par with counterparts around the table.
Advancing refugee participation also means addressing the barriers that have typically constrained the role that refugees could play in shaping policy and practice.
LERRN & LERRN Partners’ Publications
Event Report – UNHCR at 75: Challenges and Opportunities
On 26 November 2025, LERRN in partnership with the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN), hosted a webinar titled “UNHCR at 75: Challenges and Opportunities.” …
New Report Published – Refugee-Led Responses and Agency in East Africa, the Middle East, and South America
We are pleased to announce the release of the new synthesis report titled Refugee-Led Responses and Agency in East Africa, the Middle East, and South …
Blog Post: Gender equality – More than just a women’s issue
by Lavender Mboya “These displacements have made the people very vulnerable and especially the men, our most vulnerable people, although when you go to the organization …
New Publication: Through the Localization Looking Glass: Seeing Subaltern Power in the Refugee Regime
We are thrilled to announce the release of the article titled “Through the Localization Looking Glass: Seeing Subaltern Power in the Refugee Regime” by Merve …
Webinar Report – The Politics and Process of Refugee Leadership: A Comparative Analysis of Factors Conditioning Refugee Leadership in Global South
Para la versión en español, desplácese hasta la parte inferior de esta página. On February 08, 2025, the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN) hosted …
Forced Displacement and Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy: What Is Missing?
Working Paper 29 By Brianna Parent Long, Carleton University and Muzna Dureid, Concordia University Executive Summary Despite Canada’s recognition as a global leader in refugee …
Podcast Episode on Refugee Participation by James Milner and Rez Gardi
…s episode of (Un)Filtered hosted by Co-Director of R-SEAT Rez Gardi, LERRN Project Director James Milner talks about his research in the forced migration …
Event Report | From Accountability to Meaningful Participation: Refugees & the Governance of International Refugee Responses
On October 3rd, 2022, the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations and R-SEAT (Refugees Seeking Equal Access at the Table) hosted a …
2021 GCR HLOM: LERRN Virtual Space
On December 14 and 15, 2021, the first High-Level Officials Meeting (HLOM) of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) took stock of the progress made …
Building Local Professional Learning Communities with and for Teachers in Refugee Camps – A Case Study on Hareed Primary School in Dadaab
Working Paper 14 Abdikadir Bare Abikar, Member of the Dadaab Response Association, Graduate of the Master of Education, York University Borderless Higher Education for Refugees …
Investigating Corporal Punishment in Refugee Secondary Schools in Dadaab, Kenya
Working Paper 13 Okello Mark Oyat, Founding Member of the Dadaab Response Association, Graduate of the Master of Education, York University Borderless Higher Education for …
The Causes of Female Student Dropout in a Secondary School in the Dadaab Refugee Camps of Kenya
Working Paper 12 Arte Saman Dagane, Member of the Dadaab Response Association, Graduate of the Master of Education, York University Abdullahi Yussuf Aden, Graduate of …
Collaboration Between Academia and RLOs To Advance Refugee-Led Advocacy
Meaningful Refugee Participation as Transformative Leadership: Guidelines for Concrete Action
Rapport Webinaire de RAN Canada sur la participation significative des réfugiés
Refugees’ Roles in Resolving Displacement and Building Peace: Beyond Beneficiaries
The Role of Refugees in Responses to Displacement: How Can Canada Support and Facilitate Refugee Participation in Local, National and Global Settings?
Webinar Report | Meaningful Refugee Participation: Charting the Way Forward
Relevant Videos